I was 'off to see the queen,' the stewardess lingo we use when working a London trip. I packed my tall boots, a few jackets and scarves. I was invited to join a friend from London for dinner with a small group at the famous old oyster bar "J Sheekey." I was, for once, concerned about what I would wear as my friend, Tim is a famous London tailor with a shop on Savile Row as well as shops all over the world. He dresses David Beckam and Tom Cruise and I certainly did not want to embarrass myself with some sort of 'get up' from my usual suitcase wardrobe.
As I was getting out of the shower that evening, I heard the fire alarms going off. Too many times I have called downstairs or left my room, only to discover that it was a false alarm. But I was having visions of Mumbai and quickly threw on the pajamas I had laying on the sink, grabbed my purse, put on my coat and ventured into the hallway. There was a little old Japanese man passing by my door and he sort of put it all in perspective in his heavy Japanese accent, "When in doubt, it is best to get out." I followed his lead and joined a group descending down the stairwell. When we got to the first floor, a security guard directed us down a long hallway that lead to the garage.
At first glance, it looked like the hotel was undergoing an extensive renovation. The carpet was ripped up, there were a lot of small holes in the walls and the paint was stripped from the walls. I saw a sign on a door that said "Do not enter." Next door said "This room is to never be used again" and then one that said "By order of the British government, do not enter." That one had bars on the doors. I just remembered that a pilot told me our hotel, The Millennium, was where the Russian KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko was staying when he was poisoned and later died of 'radioactive poisoning.' Could it be we were passing by that infamous hotel room?
Turns out there was no fire but rather a domestic dispute in which a man pulled a gun on his wife/girlfriend/hooker or whatever she was and would not allow her out of the room. Guess you could call it a 'hostage' situation but I was more concerned about missing my dinner plans at J Sheekey. The garage was open and airy, right on the street because if you have to spend 3 hours in a garage, you want it that way. Three hours in a garage is eternity. As hour 1 turned into hour 2, I resigned myself to the fact that I would not be dining at a fancy restaurant with my fancy friends, but instead with complete strangers, mostly dressed in outfits straight out of "Mama's Family," sitting in some plastic banquet chairs.
There were only 60-70 hotel guests as many had left earlier for dinner and plays as did my entire crew. The hotel restaurant waiters brought out trays and of tea and sandwiches. There was a loud, large, boisterous woman from Waco,Texas named 'Marty' sitting next to me who took one look at the pretty silver tray of perfectly symmetrical sandwiches and asked the waiter, "Anyway I could get a couple of Budweisers and a cheeseburger? I decided to stick with her as I knew nothing so bad could happen to me as long as she was around.
I was getting hungry and a few of us (of course I made Marty go too) decided to check out the 24 hour Tesco Express across the street, which is a glorified convenience store. There was an interesting selection of prepared sandwiches. pastas and salads along with all sorts of decadent deserts or maybe I was just starving and it all looked that good at the moment. I picked up a 'chicken, bacon, mayo' sandwich and some 'bacon, chicken, sweet corn pasta salad," (because it's always safe to stick with bacon) and some 'Lingonberry yogurt infused with cow's milk from the Channel Islands."
It was all as delicious as it sounded. Everyone else at the 'garage campground' was jealous of our food so I ended up going back with some other folks a second time for desert. I chose the 'sticky toffee chocolate pudding cake' which was decadent. I also picked up a couple of goodies for later, 'Thornton's mini chocolate brownies', which were brownies sprinkled with fudge pieces and dipped in chocolate. Along with a pack of 'Tunnock's Real Milk Chocolate Caramel Wafer Biscuits, I had almost forgotten about "J Sheekey's Oyster Bar," and I suspect those fancy people I was supposed to dine with weren't half as entertaining as Marty, especially after she finished her first six pack.
Tesco Express
87 Gloucester Road, South Kensington
London, SW7 4SS
Opening Hours: 24/7
Laura grew up in a small southern town in Georgia on a cotton and pecan farm where life centered around family, friends and good food. She has lived in Atlanta for 20 years and has been a Flight Attendant for a major airline for 18 years, traveling the world in search for the next best meal.